Raynham residents come together for Pride Day

Nonprofits, businesses and community organizations joined together to show their pride in Raynham this weekend. The 16th annual Raynham Pride Day took place Sunday afternoon, drawing more than 115 businesses and other community organizations. Event organizer Kevin Ellis said that about 3,000 guests attended, making it a record crowd for Raynham Pride Day.

Nonprofits, businesses and community organizations joined together to show their pride in Raynham this weekend.

The 16th annual Raynham Pride Day took place Sunday afternoon, drawing more than 115 businesses and other community organizations. Event organizer Kevin Ellis said that about 3,000 guests attended, making it a record crowd for Raynham Pride Day.

“It was a great day, the largest turnout yet,” said Ellis, who has organized the event for 13 years along with his wife Shirley. “We have many businesses out here that we haven’t had before.”

Ellis said that in addition to high attendance, it seemed like there were more food donations brought by guests to give to the Raynham Food Basket, a nonprofit charity that provides food for the needy throughout the town, which was stationed at the entrance of the event. Ellis also highlighted new charities that attended, like the Pet Pantry, which was started by Easton native Jessica Stone to provide donations of cat and dog food to needy pet owners in the area.

“Stuff like this is awesome, especially when it’s 100 percent free and we can just let people know about us and can get donations,” said Stone, a sophomore studying animal science at UMass Amherst after graduating from Coyle and Cassidy High School in Taunton. “We’ve been getting great feedback. With pet-related causes, usually people are ignoring you or are really there with you. I find with events like Pride Day, local people are out to engage with you because your local and you’re in their community.”

Ellis also gave a special thanks to Friendly’s restaurants, which donated ice cream and gave out coupons for ice cream.

Linda Pratt, of the Raynham Cultural Council, was there conducting surveys about what kind of cultural events her organization should pursue with the grants it is given by the government.

“Pride Day is a very fun day for Raynham,” Pratt said. “There are a lot of families that come out. It’s a wonderful event. We really enjoy it. We are getting a lot of good feedback.”

Pratt said that the main attractions of Raynham Pride Day are the hundreds of hot dogs given out by the Raynham Lions Club, which is based across the street from the park. “Everyone comes to have a hot dog,” she said.

The Lions Club had a large inflatable lion set up for the event.

Emily Treano, a campaign coordinator for the United Way of Greater Attleboro/Taunton, was at Raynham Pride Day for the first time representing her employer.

“This is a great turnout,” Treano said. “It’s a beautiful day and it’s great to see a lot of people out and about. it’s a really great event. It’s nice to see our business partners and community partners out here with us too.”

Page 2 of 2 - Another mainstay at Raynham Pride Day is the martial arts demonstrations.

Ric Riley led Komyo Dojo Ma, which is based in Raynham, through a public demonstration. He said while the audience enjoys it, the pressure of the large audience brings a new element for his students.

“It builds the students confidence,” Riley said. “It’s a different type of environment.”

The event also featured a climbing wall, a petting zoo, a magician, animal balloons, and demonstrations by Raynham Fire Department. The Raynham Police Department doled out popcorn and snow cones and also distributed information about child safety and allowed guests to check out a cruiser.

“I have a lot of pride,” joked Raynham Police Chief James Donovan. “It’s a good tradition. It’s good for the town. A lot of towns have events like this called they call it old home day, but if Raynham wants to call it Pride Day, that’s cool. It’s a great concept.”